Frequently Asked Questions

You will be accosted and mugged, then immediately invoiced for the full shoot fee.

Just kidding! (or am I?)

Fear not, the session is super-relaxed. We work hard, but we don’t work stressed. After a cup of tea and a chat, we’ll have a look at your clothes and talk about what you want to get from the session. Before the shoot starts, you will be given full instruction on what to do. Everything is taken out of your hands. there are rules to follow that make ANYONE look good in a shot. You get taught these rules, and then we’re ready to go. I’ll show you how to move, how to ‘look’, and how to express yourself, along with giving queues throughout the shoot on what to do. The one thing you won’t feel during the session is unprepared. This part of the session is super-important and useful to helping you understand exactly what a casting director is going to respond to, and how you can effectively communicate your casting potential to the camera, and ultimately, to the person booking you for an audition.

The session progresses at an unhurried pace, although I do push the pace a little if the light is particularly amazing and looking like it won’t be around for long. In these instances, though, it’s not about pressure, it’s something fun. There’s never any stress in my studio, it’s about two people connecting as a team and getting work done without anxiety.

We shoot approximately 100 images per clothing change, then we switch everything up for the next look. Deciding on the looks is a collaborative process, and before we do anything, a small discussion takes place to make sure we’re picking clothing and light in a combination that best represents your casting potential, your personal aesthetic preference, or both!

We run through this process until the four looks are complete, and then we review what we’ve done. Throughout the shoot you will have full access to the laptop that displays all the images being shoot in real time, and although everything is out of your hands and my responsibility, you are welcome to have as much (or as little) input, direction, and control as you would want.

Once the session is complete, I will sort through the images of the day, removing any that aren’t useful, and a gallery of curated images will be uploaded to a provide space and emailed to you and anyone else you specify ready to pick for retouching!

Honestly, I think this is the most important question I could ever answer as a headshot photographer. The answer to that question is that I actually AM a photographer. I was a photographer before I shot headshots, and will be long after there’s a need for them. Most, if not all headshot photographers, especially the ones at my level (the top, baby!) are not photographers. They are, almost without exception, ex-actors and ex-casting directors, who, for whatever reason, decided not to pursue those fields, and instead moved into shooting headshots. I have a personal bugbear about this, because the sales-pitch always reads, “as an actor myself, I know EXACTLY what you need from your headshot”, which is completely untrue. It’s like me pretending I can act on the basis that I photograph actors.

My style of headshots are completely unique – something immediately visible from my gallery. You will notice that the ten busiest headshot photographers in this country all have very similar styles. The reason for that is because they have entered this industry under the impression that there’s an expectation of how a headshot should “look” and not what it should “do”. For that reason, they generally tend to copy the busiest headshot photographer, and the result is that after years and years of doing so, they never end up developing the personal style you see at London Headshots.

I create headshots that are unique to the person. I don’t have a template into which I just plug a different face every time – which is something that happens too much in this industry. I photograph people as individuals and create an atmosphere and environment that makes them shine and stand out. Nobody is the same, and I respect and cherish that fact on my shoots.

I’m a commercial editorial & advertising photographer with an obsession and passion for portraiture. I think about photography 24/7. I’m a terrible businessperson, my accountant hates how unprepared I am, my studio is usually a bit of a mess, and I would give up any social function if the choice was to attend or photograph someone. I think about photography and light and people 24/7. I’ve worked for clients such as Disney, Kurt Geiger, Givenchy, Channel 4, Harlequin, BOND, Daily Mail, Westfield, Great Ormond Street, John Lewis, Heathrow Airport, M&S, plus a ton I can’t remember at the time of writing, and I take the experience from the top level of this profession and put it into a headshot session with you. I know how to make people look good, and I know what to do to get people to trust that they CAN look good, no matter what they look like or how they feel about themselves going into a session.

Coming from an advertising photography background, I know what it means to create a shot that sells to a specific demographic (in this case, a casting director). This is the part of photography I’m most passionate about. Listening to and digesting a photographic brief, and creating work that shows I’ve listened and understood the needs of my client.

Headshots are my passion and my love. London Headshots is my pet project of seven years, and because my editorial & commercial photography commissions pay the bills, I’m able to indulge this passion for headshots from a purely recreational perspective, and don’t have the pressure of having to use this business to pay the bills – it makes me free to enjoy every minute of my sessions with actors. I don’t have to shoot multiple clients per day, I shoot just one, and I only take on ten headshot clients per month. This means when you book with me, you are always booking with an assurance that I’m not burned out from shooting back to back sessions all week, and that I’m energised and ready to help you get the headshots you need.

Neither of these things means you can’t have an amazing headshot that you’ll love, and I’ll prove it to you. Taking a photograph is about acquired technique, not talent or looks. I’ll tell you in plain English how to look and how to move, and what to do with your face in order to create confidence and mask nervousness. It works every single time, and the best part is that you can see it on the back of the screen. I sit every single client down and I run through everything as part of a mini-workshop, so you’ll be comfortable before we even step in front of the camera. Everyone thinks they’ll be the one person my techniques don’t work on, well, I’m 1500 clients in, and I’m yet to meet that person!

Yes. I have a signature “London Headshots” look, which you won’t find anywhere else, but it’s also essential to experiment during a session – especially if you’re a character actor. As a photographer, I’m never looking repeat the same shoot over and over, so I’m actively looking to try new things every shoot. I have no cookie cutter method that I apply to anyone, all my headshots outside of my signature style are intended to be unique to the actor, and specific to them and their casting needs. Every headshot I take is designed purely to best express the character and potential of the person in front of the camera – that’s why you’re paying me!

I do. I never used to, but then some wily charmer of a client put a compelling reason to my as to why I should, and I gave that person a discount. It’s only fair to offer it to everyone else as a result, so a student headshot session is now £200. It’s the cheapest in London at this level, and it’s done in respect to the lower disposable incomes that young people are forced to endure whilst in pursuit of their dreams.

Likewise, though, should I ever decide to make a movie, I just ask that you remember kind ol’ John Godwin from London Headshots when I ask you to cancel your commitment to that Hollywood epic in order to star in my production!

God, no. You people nauseate me – thankfully, you’re a dwindling appearance in my life. My least-favourite of these types are the “I’m not used to paying for my photographers” – well, dummy, that’s why your portfolio is hot manure.

Don’t ask me to shoot you at a discount, or for free, it does nothing for you except establish early on that you have no respect for either myself, or the craft you’re trying to commission me for.

I feel so strongly about this. Instagram is the worst. I get DM’s most days, mostly from people way old enough to have learned manners by now asking me to shoot them for free. Often, they aren’t even polite. They genuinely think I’m going to respond with a yes to “i want u 2 shoot my headshots, u can use them in ur portfolio”.

I give you a full web contact sheet the same day, which has all the facilities to edit down and make a final selection. The whole system is completely automated and password protected, so you can securely share the gallery with agents etc. Once I’ve received your choices, I generally take about 2-3 days to get your shots to you, though I do ask for 7 days just in case there’s a disaster.

This, for me, is a disaster. If, on the off-chance you don’t like your shots, then you come back in for another session free of charge, and we’ll do it all again, but differently. I’m committed to giving everyone shots they love, and I stress to everyone at the end of a session that they are not stuck with the shots we’ve done. If they aren’t good enough for you, I won’t be salty about it, we’ll book a new session, and we’ll do it again a no extra cost.

I’ve said elsewhere on the site that my work is representing both you and I, so it’s in my interest to produce the best possible work. I’ll do everything I can to make that possible, including reshoots.

That being said, I’ve only had about 15 reshoots out of nearly 1500 clients, so it’s not like I’m back in the studio with the same people on a regular basis!

Yes, but within reason. I am happy to supply a 5th or perhaps even a sixth image, at a cost of £25 per image (50 if it’s a headshot topup), but that’s my limit. Essentially, choosing more shots than that eats into my retouching time too much, but it also dilutes the overall quality of the images. A headshot should look like an unrepeatable moment of quality, and that quality is reduced if you have multiple images from the same shot.

So I limit the amount of shots you can purchase extra, and actively discourage you from choosing more than the allotted four final shots!

If you pick more shots, the time it takes to get them back to you increases. I place the first four shoots you choose into the queue, and the other shots are done during my spare time. Often, I have time to do them all in one go, but occasionally, it might take a few days extra to get your choices back to you. This is a risk you take if you pick more than the original four choices!

God, please don’t do this, it makes you look like a bloody lunatic. I ask for seven days to get the shots back to you, but usually it takes 2-3. If it takes longer than 7 days, by all means, call me.

During September/October the turnaround time increases a little bit due to the Spotlight deadline and drama school graduates getting headshots. My workload increases massively, and along with commercial shoots, I have much less time to work on images.

Nearest stations to me are Battersea Park and Queenstown Road, both of which are just a couple of minutes walk to my studio. These stations are one stop away from Vauxhall, Victoria, Waterloo and Clapham. If you can make it to those four stations, then you’re only one change away from being at the studio!

Yes and no. A restriction begins at 11am, but most headshot sessions are over by that time, and if they aren’t, you’re able to quickly move your car onto the studio forecourt until the session concludes. I do discourage people from driving though, as parking isn’t technically allowed on the forecourt!

Most sessions are complete within 90 minutes, however, this is just an average. Some take less, some longer. I don’t impose any kind of time limit on my sessions – that’s not useful to anyone. Especially if we’re waiting for the clouds to pass in between shots!

Nothing, really, but try not to be. Given London transport, I consider anything less than 15 minutes acceptable, but anything more than that, it’s less to do with London, and more to do with you leaving your house too late. Please leave ample time to get to me, and try to account for any travel issues that might crop up on the way.